Flat battery? A jump start, or a new battery fitted where you are.
If your battery is flat, tell Recovru where you are and whether you want a jump start or a new battery. Operators nearby send one price each, with a replacement battery priced in if you asked for one, and you track the one you choose to you.
Flat Battery
Operators nearby send one price each and you choose one. The price you choose is the total you pay, with any VAT the operator charges included. Your card is held when you accept and charged when the job is done. If no operator nearby quotes, nothing is held or charged. Cancelling can cost a charge once the operator has set off: see Cancellation and Refunds and the Cancellation Rates.
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Recovru is not an emergency service. If you are in danger, call 999.
What happens when you ask for help
- Tell us where the vehicle is and choose a jump start or a new battery. Asking is free and commits you to nothing.
- Operators nearby send one price each for the whole job, with a new battery priced in if you asked for one, and the time they can reach you.
- Accept a price and the money is held, not taken. Follow your operator on the live map and message them in the app.
- When they arrive, you give them your 4-digit arrival code, which confirms they are the operator you booked. Once the vehicle is running, the job is done and your card is charged.
A jump start or a new battery, where the vehicle stands
You choose when you ask. The choice decides what your operator brings and what their price includes.
- A jump start
- Your operator gets the vehicle started where it stands. If the battery turns out to need replacing, a new one is agreed with you in the app first.
- A new battery
- One sized for your vehicle, supplied and fitted where it stands, with its price inside the quote, so you see the full total before you accept.
- Stop-start engines
- A vehicle that switches its engine off at the lights takes a special battery, so a replacement has to match it.
- Awkward batteries
- A battery in the boot, under a seat or under the floor takes longer to reach, so the app asks where yours is.
If it keeps going flat
A battery that will not hold its charge usually needs replacing rather than another jump start, and the app tells you so when you say it keeps going flat. If the charging system could be the cause, Flat Battery vs Alternator: How to Tell explains the signs.
What the app asks about a flat battery
Every request starts with where the vehicle is, on a map pin you confirm, the kind of road and how safe it is there, then whether it has hit anything and which vehicle it is. For a flat battery the app then asks:
- Jump start or a new battery?
- Most flat batteries need only a jump. A new battery is priced in only when you ask for one here.
- How old is the battery?
- A guess is fine. Past about five years a jump often buys only a day, so your operator may bring a battery with them.
- Does any of this apply?
- Jump started in the last few days, keeps going flat, lights or a door left on, an engine that switches itself off at the lights, or a battery in the boot or under a seat or the floor. Each one changes what goes on the van.
- What happened, in your own words?
- A short description is always required. Operators price from it, so mention anything unusual, such as a warning light before it died.
Have these ready
- Your vehicle's registration, so the app can fill in the rest
- A rough idea of the battery's age: a guess is fine
- Whether the engine switches itself off at the lights
- Where the battery is, if you know
Staying safe while you wait
- On a motorway, leave by the side away from traffic and wait behind the barrier, not in the vehicle. If you cannot get out safely, stay in with your seat belt and hazard lights on and call 999.
- On any other road, get the vehicle off the road if you can, put your hazard lights on if it is in the way, and do not stand between it and oncoming traffic.
- A warning triangle goes at least 45 metres behind the vehicle on the same side of the road, but never on a motorway.
- If the battery warning light came on while you were driving, the Highway Code notes the battery may not be charging, so say so in your description.
Who comes to start it
Your request goes only to operators our staff have cleared for roadside work. Each is an independent business, checked before they can send you a single price:
- Identity
- Photo ID, matched to a live selfie
- Right to work
- Checked before their first job
- The business
- A company, or a sole trader on record. A VAT number is checked with HMRC and must match the business
- Screening
- Sanctions and politically exposed person lists
- Documents
- The insurance and licences each service needs, read by our staff
A clearance lasts only while the documents behind it are in date. Once one expires, that operator is not sent those requests.
For roadside work, the Operator Terms also ask for:
- Public liability insurance of at least £1 million
- Motor insurance for the vehicle they work from, with a class of use that covers the work
- Motor trade road risk cover if they drive or move your vehicle at all
- Professional indemnity cover
How the price for a flat battery works
Recovru does not set prices. Each operator names one price for the whole job as you described it, and that price is the total you pay: it includes their attendance and assessment fee and any VAT, so nothing is added at the end. The quote says “inc VAT” when the operator is VAT registered and “No VAT to pay” when they are not. Your invoice or receipt is in the operator's name, issued by Recovru as their agent, and shows the VAT when there is any. There is no booking fee and no card fee, and you can take any price or none.
A jump start and a new battery are priced differently, so choose one when you ask. If a jump start shows the battery is finished, a replacement is agreed with you in the app before anything is fitted.
Accept a price and the money is held, not taken, until the job is done. If the job turns out different, nothing extra is done or charged until you approve a revised price in the app. You pay the attendance and assessment fee, VAT included, instead of the price only if your operator arrives and cannot do the job because what you told us was materially inaccurate, left out something important or was misleading; the Terms of Use cap it.
Cancelling is free until your operator sets off, and for two minutes after you accept whatever they have done. After that the Cancellation Rates show how any charge is worked out, you see the exact figure before you confirm, and you never pay more than that figure. If your operator cancels, you pay nothing.
Your contract for the job is with the operator, and Recovru collects the payment as their agent. How It Works and Cancellation and Refunds have the detail.
If it still will not start
A flat battery is nearly always sorted where the vehicle stands. If your operator finds a fault they cannot fix there, they record it in the app with photos and a reason, and the app offers you a recovery request already filled in from this one, which you check and send.
An operator who also does recovery may offer to take the vehicle themselves, for an extra fee they must show you before you agree. If you would rather have it taken to a garage or home straight away, choose “Skip the questions: send me recovery” at the top of the request, or read Recovery and Towing.
Questions
Can I choose between a jump start and a new battery?
Yes. You choose when you ask. A new battery is priced into the quote only if you ask for one, and if a jump start shows the battery is finished, the replacement is agreed with you in the app before it is fitted.
Can an operator fit a new battery at the roadside?
Yes, if you ask for one. It is sized for your vehicle, supplied and fitted where the vehicle stands, and its price is inside the quote you accept.
Why does my battery keep going flat?
A battery that will not hold its charge usually needs replacing, and a fault in the charging system can drain a good one. Tell the app it keeps going flat so your operator comes prepared, and read our guide Flat Battery vs Alternator: How to Tell for the signs.
How much does a jump start cost?
Each operator sets their own price for the whole job. You see the prices as they arrive, up to five at a time, each with the operator's rating and arrival time, before you choose. Each price is the total you pay, with any VAT the operator charges included. There is no booking fee, and you pay nothing unless you accept one.
Do I need breakdown cover or a plan?
No. You pay for the job you book, and you do not need a plan to get help.
This page was last updated on .
Get help now
Tell us where you are and what has happened, and operators nearby send you their prices. You do not need a plan to get help.